There were many life-shaping stories from the girls of Camp Maqua, from learning manners, to working as a team, to earning their first paycheck or developing confidence. Others were influenced to go to single-sex colleges based on the close friendships made while at camp. Amy Johns’ (shown above at a Maqua reunion), (1967-78) constant family […]
Mary Jane Keschman
Camp As A Family Tradition–
Aside from the wonderful experiences and skills the girls learned at camp, many were so enamored with their adventures, they made sure their kids attended a camp. “Camp was definitely one of my top life highlights and memories that I have ever done, “ said sixties camper Holly Foss. “It was always the highlight of […]
What I Missed At Home #2
They missed family members, pets, and summers that continued on without them, but those feelings were not so overwhelming that the girls wanted to return home. Some, like JoAnn Kern (1953,) said she was ready to go home after her two weeks at camp. She always felt like she was missing out on her summer […]
Fads and Fashions–
Driven by her friend’s parents, Molly Appleford (1946) had her suitcase packed with shorts from Best and Company in Grosse Point. “They had buttons down the side and I loved them. So did Marsha Immerman, who thought they were so “in”, so I bought her a pair,” said Molly. Tucked in with those coveted shorts were […]
Rites Of Passage—
It was all girls and a safe place to talk, a place to give in to the innocent rites of passage, and share experiences only girls could relate to–that was camp. Shaving your legs, bleaching or cutting your hair, smoking your first cigarette, talking about sex, wearing a bra or not wearing a bra […]
I Was That Girl—
I was the nerd, the pale, buck-toothed, self-conscious, freckle-faced redhead, who befriended another little red-headed camper named Lillian, whose Mom was a cook and a single Mom at a time when single Moms were uncommon. (Ann Meisel 1962-66 I was the little girl, who had a wake-up moment at camp, when the third-grade girls thought I […]